Lights Shadow
by Faint Heartbeat
Summary: Can Ludas be the child of prophet to overcome shadow and darkness to bring balance to the Earth? Him and his friends will soon find out
1. Chapter 1

**Light's Shadow**

Since the dawn of time there waged a war. A war in which shadows would attempt to engulf the light. The shadows were led by a fearsome ruler named Ramsus. He controlled all shadows and bent them to his will. Powerful as he was though he was drawn to a stalemate against his opposition known as "The Everlasting Light". The ruler of light was known as Zoa. Both of these beings were formed in the image of both Gods and of the element they manipulated. Zoa was incased in white and gold armor of a gallant knight. He wielded two dual blades that had majestic powers. Ramsus though was shaped in the demonic figure of an enormous shadow and used dark arts to his bidding.

The shadows then waged war against the light. Zoa was reluctant to face his foe but thought of the casualties and sorrow if he stood aside and let Ramsus control the world. Ramsus's main objective was to embody the Earth in shadows and to become the ruler of all humans. Zoa was known to be peaceful and knew that in order to maintain balance in the world that light would not be able to live without shadows and shadow without light. Both Zoa and Ramsus fought and as expected got nowhere and would always end there battles in a stalemate. These battles led nowhere and often ended with unnecessary casualties. Humans would control there shadows without an issue but when in direct contact with Ramsus he'd give the shadows enough power to overwhelm there human halves and would have an undying thirst to consume the inner light within humans which held the innocence and beauty of the human soul.

One fateful day though Ramsus and Zoa decided to settle the battle of light and shadow face to face. Zoa agreed to participate in a duel for power on the condition that they were far away from any innocent bystanders for the battle and Ramsus would choose the time of the battle. Ramsus agreed to this offer knowing that he had the upper hand. On the day of the battle they met in the barren desert. As they began their battle the outcome that was predicted was coming true. Both were equal in strength and for the first 16 days then on the 17th day of their battle a rare celestial apparatus occurred. The sun had been eclipsed as Ramsus had predicted. Shadows engulfed the battlefield which lead to the

clear advantage of Ramsus Zoa of course being of light was in a weakened state. He turned his back out of sheer pain of losing so much strength in such a quick amount of time.

Once he regained a sense of where he was he turned back to see his counterpart and all that he saw was no longer the figure from before. Ramsus had transformed to his final form. He was embodied in a mass of darkness and his voice echoed across the desert "Your death will soon be upon you! Now do you have any final words as you stand before your final form?" Zoa replied "Light will soon be resurrected and finish what I was incapable of doing" Then with his entirety he used his magic to release a blinding light that even blinded Ramsus in his final form. Using the diversion Zoa immediately discarded his dual blades and with his hand thrust into his chest and pulled out the Pure Light and said to it "Be reborn and finish what I was incapable of doing" Then he threw it towards a village filled with his disciples and the light then went into to the villages most noble warrior family. It sped through the lands and entered the womb of the head family's wife waiting to be born. Zoa then turned to face Ramsus who had finally recovered from the flash of light to only see Ramsus irritated and prepared to end Zoa's life. "Now that you've prolonged your death…YOU SHALL DIE WHERE YOU STAND!" yelled Ramsus. He sent his shadows and it engulfed Zoa. In his last moments of life Zoa whispered "Ludas will be the savior.." then Rasmus ended his life with the final blow…A dark spear through the chest of the Gallant Knight.

Meanwhile in the village where the Pure Light was sent lied a mother giving birth to what would one day be the salvation from the shadows."your name shall be Ludas" said the mother to her newborn child.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Path of a Teacher**_

15 years had passed and the generation of Shadows seemed to have no end. People would shake, fearing they would be the next victim of Ramsus' wrath. He achieved his goal of becoming the next supreme ruler of the earth by engulfing all of the light that had once filled the surface of earth. The world was at sorrow, and rebellion seemed meaningless due to the Shadow guards. These were Ramsus' henchmen and always outmuscled any man or group of men. Practice of worshiping the once living Light God Zoa was prohibited. Ramsus ruled and no one could have oppressed his rule.

In the village of Kemah lived a small task group known as the guardians of light. The group consisted of Ludas, the Pure Lights vessel and guardian of the two other members. He had short, black, messy hair and was 6 feet tall He was very athletic an agile, but one thing stood out about him; his eyes. They held the innocence of a child and reflected the purity of his soul, though he always seemed a bit dark at times. Crystalline was another part of the group she had brown skin and was the group's magician. She always had such energy about her and nothing was mystique or wise about her unlike most magicians in the lands. She had a childlike identity and seemed to be more active than normal; she almost seemed to be hyper at times. She had long dark hair and cast spells with her long white staff. Kaiza was a long range fighter and a medical specialist. Even though she carried a small blade she preferred using her bow and arrow. She held a journal in a pouch that was made of leather. She poured her soul into it every night. She had black skin but her soul was by far the kindest and held more innocence than her two teammates combined. Her smile would even melt the most unruly of people's hearts.

This group had been assembled at birth in order to battle and end this era of darkness. All of them had been taught to by the master fighting squad of the village. The name for this old squad was called the Guardians of Light. They were well known as Zoa's top assassin squad. They were feared and known across the land and more often than none knew how to kill their objective. They now were too withered and old they could no longer battle. Their objective was to now teach the future of the Guardians of Light. Now our future rests in the hands of three teenagers.

Ludas and his master decided to go out for a walk and discuss the events to come and occur. "Ludas your time to set out into the world is soon to come, you know that correct?" said Hiroshima. "Yeah you geezer I noticed when I saw you packing my clothes!" exclaimed Ludas. The old man chuckled and replied "oh you saw that did you? Well your time period is in a week. We'll introduce you to your teammates in a few days." Ludas with a slight tone of sorrow in his voice replied, "So this is the last time we get to hang out with one another isn't it?" Hiroshima stared at his pupil "I know you've seen me as a father figure since Ramsus has killed all your family. I've been able to save you, but you must fulfill your destiny as the Pure Lights Vessel. You must avenge all the lives that have been changed by Ramsus's New World Order. You must bring the light back to the people of Earth!" With his old finger pointed to the darkened sky. "This curse will never be lifted until you defeat Ramsus!" "…I understand" replied Ludas with a torn heart. All Ludas had wanted was to have a father. His mother passed away two years ago after the Shadow guards spotted and captured her. They engulfed her and tortured her for any information involving the rebellion. She wouldn't budge and her life ended.

Hiroshima then became the legal guardian and was already close to his student due to the training since he became four years of age. Ludas walked back home he was hurt and under his breath he mumbled "I have no father, all I have now is this duty to free the world of this curse. If that's true then I'll take my leave now! Screw the two new comrades I'll do this on my own!" He ran back to his house and began to pack all of his necessities. Once he was set he took off and never looked back. Hiroshima though on the other hand went back to his school of martial arts and began to decorate it. "I only hope Luda didn't take me seriously" chuckled the old man. "After all he mustn't know about this party I made for his farewell" He thought to himself. His smile immediately faded as he sensed an ominous power close to him. NO! It was something at the door. As he turned he saw a large Shadow guard the size of a juggernaut with a sword the size of a table. "His name is the Juggernaut kind of appropriate don't you think?" said a mysterious voice. "Show yourself you coward!" yelled Hiroshima. "Now now is that anyway to greet an old friend," Said the voice. Hiroshima's eyes widened exponentially. "Nero? Is that you? How did you find me?" yelled Hiroshima. "Now did you really think that I had forgotten about you?" said Nero after his sarcastic question he let out a sinister laugh. "Then why now to attack me you coward?" Hiroshima asked. "Because now you're weak enough to for the death I've dreamt of you to die from" Nero after replying he released a poison from his hand that he so viciously guided towards Hiroshima. "This way I can control you and keep you as my pet. This poison will give us your shadow and we'll use it to kill many more people!" Nero could hardly keep his excitement in anymore. The shadow of Hiroshima was splitting through the skin and drilling every ounce of pain possible. "No you will not take my inner being. You will not use my strength to kill the very people I protect!" said Hiroshima before he pulled out a concealed ninja blade from his sleeve and stabbed into his heart. "You almost had me, though I won't lie Nero, but in the end looks like I win" Nero mumbled. "You fool! You'd rather die a suicide than to die by my hands! How dare you insult me so!" yelled Nero in disgust. "I rather sell my soul to the devil than to help you. Ludas… my student… my prodigy… my son. Forgive me for not being able to guide you even further." In his final breath Hiroshima said these words. Ludas had taken his leave and was camping in the woods. His fire extinguished at the time of the old man's death. All Ludas had on his mind though… "I wonder what old man Hiroshima must be doing now"


	3. Chapter 3

**The Union and Lights Shadow**

"Ludas doesn't seem to be here!" yelled out Crystalline. "Any luck with your search Kaiza?" she yelled at her partner. "Nope just more rubble and dismantled decorations that Hiroshima-sama put up" replied Kaiza "He never stood a chance against the shadows at his frail age" Kaiza thought to herself. "I'll use my staff to see what happened here! Why didn't I think of it sooner?" said Crystalline as she lifted her staff and plunged it into the Earth "All of the elements and living plants that saw the damage done transfer to my thoughts all that you saw!" Crystalline called out her spell. "I forgot how blunt your incantations were" chuckled Kaiza. Crystalline was to focused to even hear Kaiza's small remark. All of her magic was being poured down into the staff. Crystalline opened her eyes to see the tragic event that had occurred. She saw everything from the party set up to the death of an old teacher. She released her spell and fell down on her knees. "The old man killed himself… Right before they took in his shadow" panted Crystalline with tears swelling in her eyes. Kaiza went to go help her up "It's ok sweetie it must've been so hard for you to have experience all of it".

Ludas was traveling after spending his entire life within the confines of the village. He was experiencing the beauty of nature. He was infatuated by the song birds and the way they had chirped. He marveled at their freedom once they took flight and how beautiful they looked. He walked in his new clothing for travel. He wore a silk red headband that had a tail that reached down to his lower back. Along with a long sleeve shirt which hid his gauntlets. His shorts reached all the way to his shins. He was heading towards the valley of shadows. He didn't know how to get there. All he knew is that eventually someone would attack him that came from the shadows and he was going to get whatever information out of them he could get. He knew that even then his journey would take a long time. "I was bread only to kill the shadow's reign and nothing more matters now," he thought to himself. His gaze averted the song birds.

He walked for hours and he had yet to find a village that would have proven easy to overwhelm. They all had more than their fair share of Shadowguards. He walked until he ran into a traveling old woman. "Hello young wanderer, may I ask why you carry such dangerous weapons on your back?" the old woman asked referring to Ludas's dual blades. "I'm sorry I can't say why but what is a frail old woman such as yourself doing out here in the wild with the Shadowguards wondering about so near the village?" asked Ludas. "My thoughts are so wild that often I love to let them explore where they feel more at home, and what better place to let wild thoughts out than in the bounty of nature!" cackled the old woman. "What a strange old woman," thought Ludas to himself. "Well I'll leave you to not gather your thoughts I suppose?" said Ludas in confusion. "Be safe now young man. Please do take care of yourself. The woods do have many beauties but along with the positivity of beauty comes the evil twin of negativity" she said just as Ludas walked away. Ludas had only been about fifty yards away from where he ran into the old woman till he heard an ear splitting yell at the very spot he had just come from. He immediately rushed onto the scene. He arrived and unknowingly was gazing upon the man whom killed his master not more than 2 days ago. Nero asked the old woman "I think it would be in your best interest if you want to live to tell me if you've seen a boy walking through these woods". "If you believe I value my life above his then you are sadly mistaken. I have lived a full life and have no regrets" replied the old woman. "Then it looks like I'll end your regret free life here" Growled Nero. He reaised his arm ready to strike then as he threw his arm forward to throw the death blow something stopped the swing path. It was Ludas with his dual blades at hand with a certain look on his face. "You have got to be the biggest coward I have ever met! Attacking the elderly as if they could defend themselves against you!" Exclaimed Ludas. "My my my you finally decided to show your face ehh vessel of light? Funny I imagined you more stronger looking and a lot more… smarter." Said Nero. "Shut up! All I need to kill you are these blades! Now die!" Ludas said as he charged at Nero with blinding speed.

Both going blow for blow the steel of Ludas's blades meeting with Nero's arms. "I'm impressed but let's see how you maneuver yourself with this next blow!" said Nero as he took two steps back and changed his stance. He then fired black mist from his palm and guided it towards Ludas. Ludas as fast as he was, was capable of dodging it but was caught off guard. It grazed his ribs and he began to noticeably wince in pain. "I call it Black Acid Mist. Looks like the poison just grazed you so the effects probably won't be immediate." Nero said with a joyful tone. "I need to get out of here if I plan on living much longer" said Ludas to the old lady. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a smoke bomb "see you later!" yelled Ludas. The old lady and Ludas ran off. "Why didn't you run off during the battle? You could've gotten hurt!" said Ludas. "I've lived long enough. I need to ensure your safety anyways" Said the old woman. As they began to scurry through the woods Ludas turned and asked "What's your name anyways?" "Just call me Agatha. How is your wound? We best treat it as soon as possible young man" said Agatha. "Please just call me Ludas. My wound is hurting like hell still, but how far till we reach your house?" said a grimacing Ludas. "Just past this hill Ludas" replied Agatha. As soon as they arrived towards Agatha's house they had begun to realize that the Mist's poison was beginning to take effect. It was spreading rapidly throughout his entire body. "This is spreading to fast for me to stop we need a magician to stop this." Agatha said in a worried matter. "Well looks like we're out of luck" grumbled Ludas.

"Crystalline! How much further! My feet are starting to hurt!" yelled Kaiza. "We're almost there; after all you saw the battlefield where he must've faced a Shadowguard. He can't be far off now" said Crystalline. The duo of Crystalline and Kaiza had followed Ludas's trail after seeing the destruction at the dojo. "HEY! I found a house! You think he's in there?" yelled Crystalline. "Well why don't you knock?" said Kaiza. They both approached the door and knocked on it. The door swung open and a burst of shadows blasted through. Inside the cabin was pitch black and nothing could be seen. "This is unreal! All of this darkness!" shrieked Kaiza. Out of the pit of darkness came a demonic figure that looked half-dragon and half-human. Its eyes were pitch black. In the bottom of their hearts Crystalline's and Kaiza's heart s. "Don't you dare hurt them!" cried out a voice within the cabin. As the demonic figure turned to look at the source of the voice his eyes met with Ludas's eyes. His ability to even stand or walk though was pitiful at best. "I'm talking about defending those two but I can barely stand. I better think of something fast." Thought Ludas to himself. The demon then raised his finger towards Ludas and said "Your not worth my time. You're my complete opposite. Your hate and anger have created me and I must thank you for that. So as a token of my gratitude I'll give you a demonstration of my power". With a swift gesture of his finger Ludas was sent across the forest crashing through tree after tree. Crystalline overwhelmed by the thought of protecting her friends immediately chanted a spell. "SOLARIS UNAMI!" as soon as she said the incantation a bright light spouted out of the top of her staff. She immediately yelled out "You might be powerful but this spell is more powerful than any other light in the world! By the looks of things you're a shadow! So this'll sting you quite a bit!" As she had predicted the light was effective and the demon was nowhere to be seen in the aftermath of the spell.

Kaiza ran as fast as possible towards the direction Ludas had been sent. In the meantime Crystalline went into the cabinet in order to investigate what had happened. As she entered she saw an old woman lying on the floor… It was Agatha. "Are you ok ma'am!" asked Crystalline in a panic. "I believe these are the last moments of life. I must tell you that the boy is severely troubled. He got poisoned and in time that being that you saw was his shadow… Don't tell him that he was the cause of my death… poor child has been through enough. Just promise me that you'll help and protect him" asked Agatha. "Yes ma'am" replied Crystalline with tears swelled up in her eyes. Agatha with her last breath "Thank you." Kaiza was hundreds of yards away from the scene of the battle. She was trailing each tree that had been plowed through which looked more like a trail for tourists towards Ludas's location. "Ludas! Where are you!" Kaiza cried out. She heard a grunt of pain from the nearby trees. Ludas! I need you to guide me to you with some noise! Please respond!" she heard another grunt in pain. She turned to only see Ludas on the floor barely alive. He smiled and said "Some fight huh?" then soon after fell unconscious. Kaiza immediately pulled her bag across and began to prepare to heal him. She worked hard to stabilize him but then achieved her goal within 10 minutes. Once she had done this she took a quick glance at him and immediately blushed. She was astonished at his complexion. She walked away to keep guard, but not far enough to the point where she couldn't see his face.

Crystalline yelled out "Kaiza! Where are you? Kaiz-!" an arrow flew out of nowhere and landed right at her feet and attached to it was a note. "Crystalline please keep quiet. I've found Ludas and healed him. He's asleep and needs to rest. Follow the path of the arrow to pin point our location." It read. Crystalline soon ran into her partner to see Ludas lying in a deep sleep. She debated whether to tell Kaiza about the death of the old woman and what had caused it. She decided against it though "I'll carry this burden alone and allow him to be happy. As for Kaiza she'd only worry if I told her. " she thought to herself.


End file.
